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Friday, April 4, 2014

em + the kitchen - carrot cake whoopie pies.

The other day I found a recipe I was excited about: carrot cake pie. In my mind, it was going to be gooey, carrot cake-like filling inside of a flakey, buttery crust.

I was wrong.
It was quite literally carrot cake. In a pie crust. IT MADE NO SENSE. Why didn't I just make a carrot cake? I would've been less confused eating it, that's for sure.

As a result of this odd dessert, though, I had leftover carrots and cream cheese frosting, but not enough to make another carrot cake (sans pie crust...).
I found this great-looking recipe on Epicurious for carrot cake cookies with cream cheese frosting sandwiched in between. Yes, please!
They were sooo moist and delicious and I had 2 even though that's like having 4 cookies in one sitting, plus frosting, but I don't even care. They were delightful.

Also! It's almost Easter, so impress your relatives/coworkers/friends by bringing this to your holiday get together. I promise they will be impressed.

(I didn't use their instructions for the frosting as I already had some made, but theirs is very simple and sounds delicious.)

Preheat oven to 375*. Prepare 2 cookie sheets.
Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in mixing bowl until well combined and fluffy.
Mix in carrots, then add dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
(Note: you may want to chill your dough at this time as it's not the most firm dough. I didn't and panicked when my finished cookies came out of the oven very flat and darker than I'd planned. It turns out that they still maintained a soft texture, but I was concerned they would be crunchy as a result.)
Drop on prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart, making 2 dozen cookies.
Bake for 12-16 minutes, turning racks at the halfway point.Cool on sheets for a minute or two, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make frosting by beating cream cheese and honey together until well combined and fluffy.
Sandwich like-sized cookies together with a generous dollop of your cream cheese.